That was Joe Posnanski's description of Stephen Strasburg's major league debut, and there really isn't a better way to describe it. It was awesome - like waking up Christmas morning 1983 and getting an awesome new Transformer or something (Soundwave was probably the coolest I ever got).

It was also another good day for MLBTV, which I always consider dropping each spring because I don't think I use it enough to justify the cost. But between watching Jimenez' no-hitter live and Halladay's perfect game live and now the Strasburg debut live, it's probably been a good investment already. It's been a fun year.

Of course, as baseball fans, we have to temper our excitement more than a little. Some of the early hype has compared him to LeBron James or Sidney Crosby, but it doesn't work that way with pitchers. Most great pitchers have to evolve to get there; it is pointless to compare Strasburg to Sandy Koufax at the same age, because the whole point of Koufax is that he had to struggle for years to become Koufax. Likewise, a comparison to Roy Halladay at the same age is meaningless; the whole point of Doc is that he had to rebuild himself from scratch to become Doc. Randy Johnson spent ten years in the wilderness before he became Randy Johnson. And so on.

Mark Prior had one great year; Kerry Wood had one great game and some solid years but no great ones. Doc Gooden had one of the greatest seasons in baseball history at age 20, and probably 2/3 of a Hall-of-Fame career, but with a myriad of problems along the way. Other phenoms have come and gone without living up to the hype. The last guy who had Strasburg's ability at the same age, and carried it through to the Hall of Fame, was probably Tom Seaver, who won 16 games as a 22-year-old rookie and never looked back. That was more than 40 years ago; maybe it's time for another guy to do that.

But for now, it should be fun; both Gooden and Prior took their fans on quite a ride, even if it was a short one. The Mets got a World Series out of Gooden's run; Prior came within inches of leading the Cubs to their first World Series appearance since forever. Now that the Strasburg is here and Ryan Zimmerman has joined baseball's elite and there is more help coming, it's finally safe to say that the Nats have a bright future.

(on the other hand, the Braves are in first place, and have as much young talent as anybody. What are the odds that Bobby Cox changes his mind after this year, and decides to take a run at Connie Mack's win record?)

That was Joe Posnanski's description of Stephen Strasburg's major league debut, and there really isn't a better way to describe it. It was awesome - like waking up Christmas morning 1983 and getting an awesome new Transformer or something (Soundwave was probably the coolest I ever got).

It was also another good day for MLBTV, which I always consider dropping each spring because I don't think I use it enough to justify the cost. But between watching Jimenez' no-hitter live and Halladay's perfect game live and now the Strasburg debut live, it's probably been a good investment already. It's been a fun year.

Of course, as baseball fans, we have to temper our excitement more than a little. Some of the early hype has compared him to LeBron James or Sidney Crosby, but it doesn't work that way with pitchers. Most great pitchers have to evolve to get there; it is pointless to compare Strasburg to Sandy Koufax at the same age, because the whole point of Koufax is that he had to struggle for years to become Koufax. Likewise, a comparison to Roy Halladay at the same age is meaningless; the whole point of Doc is that he had to rebuild himself from scratch to become Doc. Randy Johnson spent ten years in the wilderness before he became Randy Johnson. And so on.

Mark Prior had one great year; Kerry Wood had one great game and some solid years but no great ones. Doc Gooden had one of the greatest seasons in baseball history at age 20, and probably 2/3 of a Hall-of-Fame career, but with a myriad of problems along the way. Other phenoms have come and gone without living up to the hype. The last guy who had Strasburg's ability at the same age, and carried it through to the Hall of Fame, was probably Tom Seaver, who won 16 games as a 22-year-old rookie and never looked back. That was more than 40 years ago; maybe it's time for another guy to do that.

But for now, it should be fun; both Gooden and Prior took their fans on quite a ride, even if it was a short one. The Mets got a World Series out of Gooden's run; Prior came within inches of leading the Cubs to their first World Series appearance since forever. Now that the Strasburg is here and Ryan Zimmerman has joined baseball's elite and there is more help coming, it's finally safe to say that the Nats have a bright future.

(on the other hand, the Braves are in first place, and have as much young talent as anybody. What are the odds that Bobby Cox changes his mind after this year, and decides to take a run at Connie Mack's win record?)